What I learned in September!

Well here it is! I finished my Learn Something New Every Day (online class from Shimelle) album today - yay, what a feeling that is! I found it hard to do a lo every day, but did note down what my lesson was each day and used that to make the los. Again, I found it hard to always find a relevant photo, as I wanted to use existing photos rather than take new ones (and I don't have a digi camera). But I loved doing this, hard though it was at times, and will no doubt use this as book of thoughts and reflections to look at time and again.Just do it! Just start somewhere // The past is worth revisiting, old stuff is still good!Grumpy teenagers grow up - give them their chance! // Do a bit everyday - eat the elephant.Life should be a roundabout, not a rollercoaster! // New term, new start, set challenges, make plans...Memories are precious ... my Dad // Stop off and take a break! Enjoy the scenery.Delegate, hand things over and move on! // First piano lesson - great to learn new skills.Sometimes you just have to rest. // Decluttering is good for you.Don't isolate yourself, keep in touch. // Death is part of life.Holidays are important. // Eat well! Doctors orders.Pass it on - knitting is for life! // Making things is fun.Don't be afraid to ask for help. // Preparation pays off!Dreams, nothing is too small to know and too big to attempt. // The mind is powerful. Use it.Rituals are important. // The past is important.Happy is the best place to be. // Getting ready for winter.Dance like nobody is watching. // Dare to be remarkable.These are the lessons I learned this year, 2007. Not all are new, some are memories, but all are things to think on. // notes on photos

Art Journal Cards

Couple of weeks of catch up here (again...) This is weeks 36, 37 and 38 shown together.

The first prompt (by Emily Falconbridge) was "life is beautiful", and I copied Em's use of the index photo here as it seemed so right. Piccies are of my hols on Islay in May. The next was to "draw something". Hhhhmmm, not too good at that, though I'd love to be. So somehow ended up drawing something that looks scarily like a Christmas tree , with the journalling reading that winter is on the way! And the last was "I wonder". I couldn't resist the BG Phoebe wee birdie paper, so of course I wonder what the wee birdies are telling people....

Cosy toes!

Been still struggling with this nasty virus/tonsillitis/thingey. It's a bit sneaky cos you go to docs, get tablets, start to feel better, and think yay I'm on the mend. So you go to work. You come home and are exhausted and start feeling rotten again, throat gets sore so you go to docs ... hhhmmmm. So to cheer yourself up you go online order cheery wool and knit socks! This is the first pair I've actually finished. I started a pair in January (when I had flu...) but they were on thin needles and I never finished the second one) These ones are lovely - the wool is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted and is gorgeous though a bit extravagant ... and the pattern came out of the One Skein book. I've fancied doing this pattern for ages and now love it so much I'm knitting another pair with stash wool (Falkland Islands). And my feet are warm!

Strength and roundabouts

This week's art journal card from Emily Falconbridge's prompts was STRENGTH. Hhhm quite a hard one, til I realised I had this photo of an elephant's trunk, which I'd printed off to use in the elephant task lesson lo but it didn't fit. So I cropped it, and wrote all over it! Journalling reads: "is gentleness, will, discipline, wisdom, compassion, love, fairness, belief, sharing, quiet, loud, ongoing, hard won, is from within, and without". And today's lesson lo from Shimelle's online class came from a comment my sister made to me on the phone this morning, while talking about my life....

Eat that elephant!

A time management lesson here - if keep working away at something in small bit, every day, then big tasks get done without panic and stress. So how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. You can ignore those big old elephants when they're way out on the horizon, but they get real intimidating as they loom closer, so just keep on biting away at them before it becomes too stressful or urgent. Hhhmmmm, how long will it take me to really put this into practice.....

Grumpy teenagers grow up!

When you teach teenagers (among others) they can be quite intimidating sometimes, all that sullen grumpiness that you feel is just there to challenge you.... and then a few years later, you work with the same kids, but they're adults, they're colleagues, they're good company, they're good at what they do, and though you'd never have thought it a few years ago, you're happy to work with them! It's a wonder. So my lesson is to let forget all that teenage attitude, and just judge them as they are now on their own merits, and give them the chance.

Revisit old stuff - it's still good!

Revisit old material, have faith in what you did before - it's still good, still worth sharing and working on - not everything needs to be new. I learned this last week when I was meant to be arranging trio material, but was so ill I couldn't look for new stuff, so I went back to solo material I played years ago. And guess what? Everyone loved it and I remembered how good those tunes were, and realised that I can still use them, develop them further, why throw everything away?

Just do it!

Just start, somewhere, with something, doesn't really matter what, cos there's no point in waiting til everthing's perfect and the time is right - we all know that ain't gonna happen! That's my lesson for the day.

Learning for Life!

This September, I'm going back to school. In my own little world. I've got a book and a pen and I'm going to record what I learn from life. I believe I really can learn something new every day. I'll share what I'm learning in the form of pages from my book, posted right here on my blog. I'm not alone: lots of crafty ladies are learning and recording right along with me. See their work here and here. Learn more about our project here.